Bank staff demand fairer pay system

Bank staff are demanding a fairer system when it comes to their pay and conditions after a number of revelations about the sector.

It was claimed last weekend that some of the bailout money for AIB was used to fund the pension of a former chief executive.

Eugene Sheehy has since agreed to take a voluntary cut in his annual pension of up to €75,000.

And last night it emerged that six executives at the former Anglo Irish Bank are on annual salary packages worth more than €500,000.

Larry Broderick of the Irish Bank Officials Association says it is not good enough: “Banking staff are very angry today and have been for a number of years. We are at the forefront of a major restructuring of the industry. We are looking at thousands of our members losing their jobs.

“What amazes us is this statement from the government that they can hide behind the senior executives and the issue of contractual pay. Yet for our members the issue of contractual pay doesn’t seem to be an issue that needs to be addressed.”

Meanwhile, the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has said he hopes former bank executives with pensions of around a half a million euro will follow Sheehy's lead and give some of their retirement entitlements back: “I think Enda Kenny welcomes the decision taken by Mr Sheehy and I would think other pensioners with pensions of a similar scale, of half a million euro, would follow Mr Sheehy’s lead.”